Bushfires

fire; danger; safety; emergency; action; plan; grief; loss; disaster; bushfires; bush; fires;

Contents

• How bushfires can affect your life.
• What if you lost things in a bushfire?
• How you can help your family
• If your family lost things in a bushfire
• Helping a friend
• Helping yourself
• Dr Kim says

How bushfires can affect your life

Bushfires happen quite often in Australia. Usually they are way out in the bush, a long way from towns. But sometimes they can be close to towns and cities.

Wherever we live we can all be affected by bushfires:

• You and your family may have been caught up in a bushfire.
• You may live in an area where there are often bushfires.
• You and your family or friends may have lost things in a bushfire.
• All of us may see distressing pictures about bushfires, people losing their homes, animals and even human lives.
   

What if you lost things in a bushfire?

If you and your family lost things in a bushfire then:

	You may feel sad to have lost things that were important to you.
	You may feel afraid when you think about what happened or what might have happened.
	You may feel scared about what will happen in the future, like where you will live, how you will manage to get back to a normal life.
	You may feel angry or get easily upset.
	You may feel like you don't want to eat.
	You may have bad dreams or nightmares.
	You may be afraid of the dark, smoke, loud noises.
	You may want to stay close to your parents or caregivers all the time.
	You may have difficulty putting the fire out of your mind.
	You may feel unwell, have tummy aches or headaches.

All of these reactions are perfectly normal and you need to talk about how you feel with someone who can listen well and help you to feel better.

How you can help your family

If you live in an area where there could be bushfires then your family probably already has a bushfire action plan.

If you haven't then you can help by downloading a bushfire action plan guide from the South Australian Country Fire Service
http://www.cfs.org.au/pdf/prepare-bushfire-action-plan.pdf        
   

    

There are 3 ways in which you can help

1  Making sure that your home is as safe as it can be.

You can help by:

• Helping to keep an area of at least 20m around the house clear of plants, trees or anything else that would burn.
• Making sure that hoses are connected to taps at all times.
• Helping to block drain pipes and fill gutters with water on high fire risk days.
• Practising the Bushfire action plan with your family.

2  The 'Go early' plan

• You can help your family to decide what to do if you have to leave because of a bushfire near your home.
• Talk about what you would take. 
• Talk about what you would do with pets.
• Talk about where you would go.

3  What if you were somewhere else?

Maybe you are at school or a friend's place when a bushfire starts.
You can help by:

• Staying where you are if it is safe.
• Letting your parents or caregivers know what is happening.
• Following the instructions of the adults who are around.
• Staying calm and helping little kids stay calm too.

If your family lost things in a bushfire

You might be able to help by:

	Helping to clean up, if it's safe for you to do so.
	Helping younger brothers or sisters by listening to them. Little kids find it hard to understand and may be asking the same questions over and over. Be patient and keep answering; they'll get through it in time.
	Understanding that your parents or caregivers have to make a lot of adult decisions about where to live, etc.
	Understanding that adults will be very upset too and that they will also need time to recover.
	Caring for each other.

Things can be replaced but people can't.

Helping a friend

If you know someone who has experienced a bush fire that has changed his or her life then you might:

• Be a good listener.
• Share your toys, clothes, etc until he or she can get some more.
• Help them replace any schoolwork that has been lost.
• Ask if your class can do something like fundraise to help replace things which have been lost.
• Help them through the grieving process. It may be helpful for you and your friend to look through our topic on 'Grieving – working through loss', or the topic for younger children 'Grief (easy read)'.

  Helping yourself

  It is important that you give yourself time to think about what has happened and to grieve for things that have been lost.

  	Talk about how you are feeling with one or more of your trusted adults.
  	Keep up with sports, school and all the familiar things in your life.
  	Draw, paint or write about what happened and how you feel. It can help.
  	Write thank you letters to people who have helped you.
  	Make a list of things you will have lost to help your parents get things organised with insurance.

  
  

  Dr Kim says

  Looking at the pictures in the media can be scary enough. If you and your family live near a bushfire area then be sure you have a plan ready for any emergency and that you all know what to do to keep yourselves safe.

Bushfires can start from electrical storms, but are often caused by people being careless with machinery that makes sparks, or not putting out fires or cigarettes properly. A few people even start fires deliberately.

Bushfires Be prepared Unexpected fire Scared to death Hose is ready Fight the fire Increase awareness Ring 0 0 0 Emergency escape By Summer

We've collected this information to help you to understand important things about staying healthy and happy. However, if you feel sick or unhappy, it is important to tell your mum or dad, a teacher or another grown-up.